Of All the People in this Whole Wide World
by Butterfly.ninjaChan
Summary: AU. Cha Eun Sang. Eldest daughter of the President of Jaeguk Group returns to South Korea to take her place as CFO of her family's Empire, alongside her brothers Won (COO) and Chan Young (CIO) with the plan of taking their company to the Top. But she doesn't know that fate and her mother have other plans for her, plans involving Zeus Hotel Group's devil of an heir, Choi Young Do AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Roots

Cha Eun-Sang wasn't your regular chaebol daughter, the whole chaebol world could attest to that. Sure, she was a part-heir of one of the wealthiest organisations in South Korea, had a loving father, a socialite mother, over-protective older and younger brothers and the world's cutest younger sister her life hadn't always been that way, and as the 24-year old thought about the things she needed to look into once she started her new job as Chief Financial Officer of Jaeguk Group, she circled a date on the calendar app of her smart phone and wrote a single note:

_Omma's death anniversary._

To understand the complexity of this young woman's life, however, one must understand her roots. This is the story as related to her by her father when she was 15.

It all starts with her father, the current president of Jaeguk Group, Kim Nam-Yoon, who, a year after losing his first wife during child birth decided to move to England with his infant son, where he would oversee the establishment of Jaeguk's London branch. Upon arriving in London he realised that his son Won, would need a full time nanny who was fluent in both Korean and English so that she could communicate with both him and the outside world efficiently enough to provide the best possible care for his little Wonnie.

Park Hee Nam, or Eun-Sang's omma, was a recently qualified English major and aspiring writer, whose parents owned a little traditional Korean Beef House in New Malden. Now being strapped for cash, as most unemployed graduates are, the young Hee-Nam couldn't thank her lucky stars enough when she came a across a baby-sitting job in the Classifieds that seemed to perfectly describe her…

_Female_…. "Yes"

_Experience with handling young children… _"I've been babysitting since I was 15, I'm 23 now… so. Yes"

_Able to converse in fluent Korean and English… _"Nae, dang-yoenhi…. Yes, naturally"

_Able to cook Korean cuisine… "_ I've been learning since I was 12 _"_

And the job provided accommodation and paid well. So she'd finally be able to move out of her parents' house and after saving for a while, she'd get her own place.

Upon meeting her new employer and his adorable son, she was pleasantly surprised that they got on fairly well two the point where two years later, Hee-Nam was still working and living in Nam-Yoon's house and little Won, now 4-years old (Korean age) had begun to address her as "Omma". It was then that the two adults, against their better judgement, began an intimate, romantic relationship. A year later, Nam-Yoon, or the future Kim-sajangnim, went to Hee-Nam's parents to ask for her hand in marriage, her father however, refused and Hee-Nam being a filial daughter, chose to abide by her father's decision even if it meant separating herself from her beloved and the child she'd come to love as her own. So broken-hearted and dejected Nam-Yoon returned to Seoul, to find that, due to pressure from the board of directors who had learned of his relationship with Hee-Nam, his parents had arranged a marriage for him to his late wife's younger sister.

A month later Nam-Yoon's wedding preparations were well underway, while in England, Hee-Nam faced her own dilemma, she was 2 months pregnant and her father had just found out and kicked her out of the house. It was her mother's brother who took her in and convinced her to find Nam-Yoon and tell him about the child. When she arrived in Seoul, however, she found out that Nam-Yoon had remarried and despite trying multiple times, begging and pleading to different people, including his new wife, although she didn't know it at the time, she was never allowed to meet him. Feeling that she had burdened her uncle and his family too much, she chose to remain in South Korea, using what money she had left from her babysitting job, she rented a rooftop room and worked multiple jobs before finally landing a job as an English teacher at a middle school. When the time came Hee-Nam chose to give her daughter her uncle's last name as him and his family were the only people who supported her in her time of need. And So CHA EUN-SANG was born.

The stigma that came with being a single mother was much more pronounced in South Korea than in England and all Hee-Nam could do was guiltily comfort her little Eun-Sang the first time she came home from school in tears asking why she had no "appa" and "if he left because he didn't like Eun-Sangie?". That night and every other night afterwards Hee-Nam would tell her that her appa was a good person because he was very important it was difficult for omma to meet him and tell him to visit Eun-Sang.

The biggest change in Eun-Sang's life came when she was 7. It was a chilly morning in early winter that the recently appointed Kim-sajang saw a face he never expected to see again, plastered across the morning news was an image of Park Hee-Nam's face, his Hee-Nam, along with the faces of 7 seven children and a caption which read …

"Killed during a bus accident while on a school field trip to Busan."

It was as if Nam-Yoon's world had shut off momentarily, as tears welled in his eyes, he didn't hear the sound of this tea-cup shattering as it made contact with the marble floor or his wife Ki Ae's panicked shout of "OPPA!", what did catch his attention was the News anchor saying that while

"the school had voluntarily taken care of ENGLISH TEACHER PARK HEE NAM'S funeral, Hee-Nam's 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER would be placed in an orphanage until contact could be made with her relatives in England."

Once he had regained his wits, Kim-Sajang had marched to the phone, called his office and instructed his secretary to clear his schedule for the week, he then all but ran out of the house, got into his car and drove himself to the news station.

Three weeks later, after multiple meetings with Hee-Nam's uncle, the first of which resulted in Kim-sajang sporting a black eye, another in him almost firing every person that was still under his employ and had met Hee-Nam all those years ago, it was agreed that although Eun-Sang would not change her last name, she would remain in South Korea and live with her father. It was also decided that, she would be added to the family register and officially introduced to the public as his daughter and a rightful Jaeguk heir because as Kim-sajang declared to his mother, to Ki Ae and to the board of directors who opposed his decision "she has the blood of Kim Nam Yoon running through her veins, she is my daughter and deserves to be recognised as such! She will not be treated as a mistake because to me, she's my miracle!"

After the official press conference, Cha Eun-Sang walked through the doors of the Kim mansion, the place she refer to as "home" for years to come, for the first time, clutching the hand of her newly-found "Appa". Waiting in the parlour were all the maids and butlers of the household who bowed in greeting, and smiled slightly when Eun-Sang bowed back and introduced herself in a small shy voice: "Annyeonghaseyo, Cha Eun-Sang Ibnida."

To which her had father smiled gently and led her forward toward four people who were dressed differently from the helpers and were waiting at the end of the parlour. Two boys were standing in front of two women, an older looking woman who was standing and a younger, heavily pregnant lady was sitting The two boys stepped closer as she hid slightly behind her father's legs. The older of the two spoke first.

"Don't be afraid, Eun-Sang-ah" he had said. "I'm Kim Won, your big brother, but you can call me Wonnie oppa and this," he continued, pulling the younger boy forward by his hand "is our little brother Chan Young. Chan Young-ah, say hi to Noona." Little Chan Young had then pulled his thumb out of his mouth, waved excitedly and said "Annyeong Noona". And Eun-Sang had smiled, though uncertainly at first, and responded by waving back and saying "Annyeong Chan Young-ah, annyeong Oppa" causing Won and Kim-sajang to smile widely, while the older of the two woman smiled softly before moving toward the child and saying "Eun-Sang-ah, you can call me Halmeoni" to which the child nodded and replied "Nae, Halmeoni". Last came the introduction that Kim-Sajang had been most worried about, he sent a stern look to his wife who had been stony face during all the previous introductions, Ki Ae on her part tried to not look too pained as she forced herself to smile.

Won and Kim-sajang had each taken Eun-Sang by the hand and led her toward Ki-Ae who was sitting on an armchair, Kim-sajang had then spoken to Eun-sang in his gentlest voice and introduced Ki Ae as her "New Omma". The adults and Won, who was old enough to understand the situation and had been there before himself, were tensed as they watched the childs face intently and they had all held their breath when Eun-Sang had shyly looked up at Ki Ae and said "New Omma, can I please call you Eomeoni instead?". Everyone had then smiled, even Ki Ae, who caught herself smiling genuinely, as she nodded, for a split-second which was unacceptable as she had promised herself that although she had agreed to raise Eun-Sang, she would forever dislike this child, who had appeared to disrupt the lives of her nephew and children.

Although hesitant at first Eun-Sang had adapted well to the new environment, and as the weeks had passed it was not uncommon to hear the laughter of a little girl accompanying those of Won and Chan-Young as they ran through the house or chattered excitedly about whether they would get a new brother or sister. '

It was decided that Eun-sang would transfer to Jaeguk Elementary School after Christmas, and though she proved to be intelligent enough to cope with the coursework and showed a genuine acuity for English school life wasn't easy on her as once again she had to deal with bullying. This time, however, she wasn't alone, when he found out what was happening to her at school, Won had made it a point to walk her to her classroom every morning and collect her from there every afternoon, making sure to glare at anyone who he thought a danger to his sister. Their little sister Min-Young was born early January in the new year, to Eun-Sang, she was the prettiest thing in the world.

Twenty-four year-old Eun-Sang smiled as she tilted her seat backwards while thinking about her family. The last time she had seen them had been for Chan-young's wedding, that, had was a year ago. As she drifted off to sleep to the sound of Exo M's "Heart Attack" the last thought she had was

"I can't wait to be back home."


	2. Chapter 2: SIblings

**Author's Note:**

Thank you to everyone who read this story and a special thanks to the 8 people who left reviews :) . I'm sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I had to prepare for yesterday's oral exam, because my department at university feels that written exams aren't stressful enough. Anyway I hope you guys find this enjoyable and I promise Young Do will appear soon . As always your reviews are much appreciated

**Chapter 2: Siblings**

"Yah, Eun-Sang-ah, Kim Eun Sang" was the first thing that caught her attention as she entered the main airport area after arriving at Incheon Airport. She looked in the direction of the voice and was not surprised to see a baby-faced young man smiling at her cheekily as she approached.

"KIM Eun Sang?" she questioned, in a hushed whisper. Chan Young grinned while taking her luggage trolley from her "It worked, didn't it, Noona?, I got your attention without attracting any insects." Eun Sang nodded in understanding, walking just behind her brother as her tired legs tried to keep up with his long strides, she was only scheduled to be back in a week but she had planned to surprise her family with an early arrival and Chan Young was the only person who knew. This meant that if she kept a low profile, she would have at least three days of peace with her family before the flea circus realised that she was back in town.

'Insects' was a word that a 15 year old Won had come up with to refer to the photographers that seemed to constantly follow their family and Eun Sang in particular, who personally didn't see why they seemed to get a kick out of her doing menial things like jogging or eating ice-cream. The airport it appeared, was crawling with "insects" as they waited for the arrival of some or other idol group.

Eun Sang sighed as she continued to walk forward only noticing that Chan Young had stopped walking when her forehead had collided with his back.

The younger Kim chuckled as he handed her a pair of dark oversized sunglasses thinking that this precaution might be entirely unnecessary, as no photographer or anyone who wasn't a part of the Kim Household would ever consciously associate the well-groomed and well-mannered Cha Eun Sang, with the grouchy, scruffy little monster that stood before him now.

As they walked out of the airport doors a large white Bentley pulled up, drawing attention from everyone. Eun Sang's jaw dropped as she turned or Chan Young with a questioning expression that was partly hidden by her oversized frames, the latter just shrugged and smiled impishly as he opened the back door and got into the car. Eun Sang got in hurriedly as she heard someone say "Isn't that a Jeguk car?"

'_Oh well, maybe we'll get home before the news.' _She thought glumly.

"Yah, smile. Maybe we'll get home before the news" Eun Sang was startled by the sound of her brother's voice or more precisely the vibration of chest as she hadn't realised when he'd engulfed her in a hug.

"Yah? What you mean yah? I'm older than you, its Noona" she insisted half-heartedly, all the while savouring the safety and warmth of her brother's embrace, because although she'd never admit it to their faces, Won Oppa and Chan Young gave the best hugs second only to...

'_No´_ she caught herself, her brothers gave the best hugs.

"Does Bo Na know?" she asked thinking of her excitable youngest sister-in-law.

"No, I thought it would be better to surprise her too" Chan Young responded gleefully, "she looks cute when she's surprised, though she might get upset because I hid it from her but then she's even cuter when she pouts so it's a win-win for me."

Eun Sang chuckled and rolled her eyes at her little brother's childishness, they really were made for each other those two, Lee Bo Na and Chan Young. They had married young, a month after Bo Na's high school graduation as Bo Na had firmly declared that "_Kim Chan Young is the only person I will ever love and we've dated long enough to not need an engagement"._

That much was true they had been together since Chan Young was 14 and Bo Na, 13.

The drive home passed with idle talk about the family, which varied from Chan Young and Bo Na's studies, to Min Young's secret crush and even Won's extremely odd determination to not have a child until he was atleast 35.

* * *

As the two siblings entered the house, they immediately sensed that something was wrong, their suspicions were confirmed when the head house-keeper had informed them in a hushed tone that their aunt and her own nephew, Tan, had come to visit and their aunt was having a meeting with their Won, Hyun Joo and their mother and father.

Both could tell though, from who was present and the way that Ahjumma had said "meeting" that it was more of a very heated argument.

Upon entering the foyer they were met with the comical sight of Bo Na and Tan crouching with their ears pressed to the Great-room doors as they tried to catch snippets of the conversation going on inside. Seizing the opportunity, Chan Young crept up to Bo Na and signalled Eun Sang to follow suite, pointing at Tan with his eyes. Each of them tapped their respective targets on the shoulder.

"Just a moment, Chan Young"

"Yeah, hold on, Eun Sa-, CHA EUN SANG" Tan voiced his surprise in a whispered-shout.

"Annyeong Tan-a-" "Kim Tan move! Eonnie-" was what Eun Sang heard before being pounced on by the slighter, yet taller Bo Na. Chan Young smiled apologetically at Tan, a both men steadied themselves after Hurricane Bo Na had shoved them aside. Tan nodded and was about ready to retaliate when-

* * *

"**WHAT THE HELL GIVES YOU THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUCH A DECISION?**" yelled Won.

"Oppa, calm down, you're being disrespectful" Hyun Joo spoke soothingly to her husband, although she herself agreed with him completely.

"Yes Wonnie, listen to your wife" Jeong Ji Suk replied off-handedly as if talking to a petulant child. "I'll have you know that the fact that I am on the board of directors" she continued "gives me the authority that you question."

Won was beside himself while Kim-Uijangnim, sensing the danger, chose this moment to interject "I don't recall allowing the board of directors the authority to interfere in my children's personal life." he stated calmly, though the warning in his tone was clear and his sister-in-law had received that warning loud and clear, but she was not one to back down, not on this atleast.

Smiling wryly, she replied "the board agreed that this would be the most beneficial move for Jeguk, further than that I simply acted in my capacity as an aunt."

The elder Kim male almost scoffed, the younger actually did, ignoring his wife who less than half-heartedly shushed him. It was no secret in the Kim household that their aunt never considered Eun Sang to be part of the family, a fact which appalled them all because while their late uncle, their father's younger brother had doted on Eun-Sang, his wife, the woman sitting before Won now, had poorly veiled her dislike for the child while her husband had been alive and after his death she felt free to openly discriminate against the child.

Hyun Joo would never forget how confused both she and Won were when they found 12 year-old Eun Sang crying and apologising for being a burden while looking at a family picture, nor would she forget Won's fury or her own anger when he finally managed to get his sister to tell him what had upset her to the point that she had dared to wish herself dead. That night Eun Sang had cried herself to sleep in her brother's arms as he tried to clear all the misconceptions the hag, currently seated in front of them, had created in the child's mind. Hyun Joo's mind was abruptly brought back to the present as her husband stood up roughly and her father-in-law's voice thundered through the room

"**YOU DID WHAT?"**, what shocked her though, was the person to whom his anger was directed.

Ki Ae shuffled in her seat as she started to explain herself "Eonnie," she said, inclining her head to her husband's sister-in-law, "came to me saying that she had found a good match for Eun Sang, she said he was a well-educated young man, who stands to inherit his own company, and he's only a year older, so I met his mother -"

"future step-mother" cut in Ji Suk, almost gleefully

"Yes her, and she mostly had good things to say about him, and I worry about our Eun Sang, I mean she isn't getting any younger and she seems to have no intention of finding a groom for herself, I mean look at Bo Na, only 20 and yet..." she rambled on, Won was about to interrupt when a voice beat him too it.

"Get to the point please Eommonim" Hyun Joo cut in, though by the way she bowed in apology before hastily sitting down, wide-eyed, when her mother-in-law looked up at her it appeared that she hadn't realised that she had, or that she even knew that she was standing up.

Had the situation been any less serious, Won would have burst out laughing, in his peripheral vision he thought he saw his father crack a slight smile.

Ki Ae continued "In the end I agreed."

"To what? A blind date?" questioned Kim-Uijang, in an almost business-like manner

"a…a… wedding, but I had no idea it would affect the company this way, but isn't it a good thing if the wedding carries-" Ki Ae stopped abruptly as her husband held up his hand signalling he had heard enough.

The Chairman sighed heavily "We cannot, undo what has been done and I can't overlook the long-term benefits of this union-"

"Abeoji, this is madness, you never forced your will on any of us before!" Won exclaimed as he reached for Hyun Joo's hand and pulled her up of, the couch and toward the double doors.

"Won stop." The elder man felt relieved when his son's movements halted, that relief soon turned to alarm when the door opened "I don't intend to do so now either, we'll talk to Eun Sang about it next week, you and I will together, the final decision will be hers, based on what she wants, not what we want and not what the board wants. The final decision will be Eun Sang's, I promise." He spoke rapidly not wanting his son to leave without hearing him out.

* * *

Outside the room four people sat tensed, it was one thing to hear Won raise his voice, but it was something entirely different for the Chairman to do the same.

Exactly 321 seconds after that Eun Sang couldn't take it anymore, ignoring the whispered calls of "Noona" "Eun Sang-ah" and "Eonnie" she walked toward the door with all intension of eavesdropping, however as she approached the door she heard her father say "Won Stop!". Worried that her brother was in trouble she hastily opened the door only to come face to face with her furious brother, his own arm outstretched toward the door handle. She watched his fury morph to shock and then to panic which was mirrored on her sister-in-law's face while vaguely registering what her father had just said.

"…ecision will be Eun Sang's, I promise"

And she found herself asking, before she could stop herself "What decision Appa? Oppa?"

* * *

**A/N**: Min Young will definitely appear in the next chapter :)


	3. Chapter 3: The Four

**A/N: Hi again. Sorry for taking so long to put this up. When I started proofreading it was 2000 words long but that was a day ago so now 2000 words later we have my longest chapter yet. **

**Again thank you to my 27 followers, 10 favourite(rs)(I doubt that's a real word) and 1269 viewers and a special thank you to my 16 reviewers. All of you keep me going. I love hearing what you think about the story. Also according to some of my lecturers, I tend to make my sentences too long when I write, so your opinion would be highly appreciated.**

**On a Happy Note. I passed all my exams and now have a Bachelor's Degree with Honours.**

**SO enough talk! Onwards!:**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Four

Moon Joon Young flinched slightly at the sound of shattering glass and the resounding thud that followed as his boss decided that the wooden tray on which the tea had arrived had offended him as well. This sort of reaction however, wasn't at all surprising considering who had just left the office of the vice-president of Zeus hotel group.

"Atleast this time you waited until she was in the elevator," He commented wryly " sir." He lazily tacked on the 'sir' as his employer turned to him with a raised eyebrow, though he noted that punishing the innocent china had left the other man was somewhat less angry.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" No, scratch that, Choi Young Do was still furious.

"Your future step-mother" Joon Young responded calmly.

"Joon Young-ah seriously, " the Zeus heir dead-panned, with almost no trace of his previous fury "they've been 'engaged' since we were 19, even the media knows this wedding is never going to happen." he continued as he picked up a handful of darts from his desktop and walked over to the dartboard. "So why would Lee Esther, when she knows full-well that she will never be my step-mother, agree to a god-damn marriage on my behalf?" every word after marriage was emphasised with a throw of a dart, and each dart thrown more aggressively than the previous one.

"She did say that it would be good for the company though" As his assistant or, as Joon Young preferred, Executive Assistant-slash-Legal Advisor and friend spoke, Young Do turned to appraise the man. Never in a million years would 17 year old-him have believed that the two of them would ever be this close. Twenty-one year old-him wouldn't have believed it either, but for different reasons altogether, but he supposed he had to thank-

"Young Do oppa, I missed you."

Young Do rolled his eyes at Myung Soo's antics though, he was thankful that his train of thought had been interrupted, he knew that his mind would return there soon, especially given the circumstances of his apparently impending _nuptials – _just the thought made him shudder. He looked up and noticed that a person was missing but more interesting than that was, if the look if absolute irritation on Joon Young's face was any indication, somebody was in trouble.

As Joon Young began marching furiously towards Myung Soo, Young Do wondered momentarily what the lawyer had done to so severely piss off well, the… other lawyer but as Joon Young nudged Myung Soo out of the way everything made sense and he shook his head in disbelief while smiling faintly.

"Where's Tan?" Young Do questioned as Joon Young sternly lectured the new secretary for not notifying them of the "arrival of a visitor"

"Oy" Myung Soo shouted in the direction of the door to show his disagreement with the term visitor and chuckled at Joon Young's tired-sounding "Not the point, hyung" knowing that the 'hyung' was only added on to shut him up, before speaking to Young Do, who had been waiting patiently,

"He said his aunt dragged him to a family thing."

"Jeong-side?" he enquired

"Kim-side" responded Myung Soo

"Oh," Young Do responded heading to the door. "Give me a moment to rescue my secretary, I kinda like this one" he added as he left the room.

Everyone in their group of friends knew that the Kim-side, or more specifically, one person on the Kim-side of Tan's family, because he seemed to get on with the rest just fine, was a touchy subject for Young Do, and none of them, not even Tan – Young Do's best friend since they were eleven - knew why.

As Myung Soo moved to sit in his favourite spot on Young Do's couch, he noticed the tray and broken bits of glass on the floor, he also noticed a file on the coffee table. Giving in to his curiosity, he reached to flip open the cover of the file knowing that Young Do would flip if he knew that he was snooping, but he was playboy Jo Myung Soo after all, he wasn't known for his self-restraint. Just before he could peak at what was inside, his phone rang.

"Aish, Tan really does have Young Do's back." He commented as he glanced at the caller ID before answering.

"Yo, Kim Tan"

"_Myung Soo-yah, where are you?_" Myung Soo was surprised by the irritation in Tan's voice, but responded evenly

"Young Do's office. Why?"

"_Oh, good. I just got here_" Tan responded, and then hung up abruptly.

"Weird" commented Myung Soo as he mused over what the cause of Tan's agitation could be and then decided that Angry Birds would be more fun. The file lay momentarily forgotten.

* * *

The elevator doors closed, cutting off Tan's view of the lobby of Zeus Hotel's main branch. As he pocketed his smartphone Tan focused on controlling his emotions and schooling his expression while pushing all thoughts of his aunt's intentions to the back of his mind.

While he would always be indebted to the woman and her husband for taking him in after his own parents had died he couldn't understand why she felt the need to make Eun Sang feel insignificant. It was as if she was punishing Eun Sang for her parent's wrong doings. His annoyance was justified after all, because instead of spending the afternoon celebrating Eun Sang's early homecoming, he had been forced to listen to his aunt mutter on about how 'that insufferable girl should learn her place' and how 'the illegitimate wench would have to agree in order to pay them back for their kindness' as he drove her back to her beloved art gallery.

He needed a distraction and he knew the perfect place to find it. Of the four of them, Young Do was the only person he knew who would willingly be at work on a Saturday, but then again, though few would believe it, his friend was a complex man and even after knowing him all these years Tan felt that there was still a side of his friend that he didn't know but regardless of how curious he was, he didn't pry because he knew that one day all would be revealed all he had to do was wait.

The chime of the elevator pulled Tan from his thoughts and he chuckled humourlessly as he made his way toward Young Do's office realising how far is thoughts had wandered. Those chuckles threatened to turn onto full-fledged laughter that had to be quickly stifled however, as he entered Young Do's secretary's office and was met with the sight of Young Do and Joon Young in a whispered disagreement about the duties of a secretary, while the said woman's frightened eyes moved from one to the other as if she were watching the Wimbledon final.

"I think it best we take this lover's quarrel inside" Tan spoke up as he draped a casual arm around each of his friends "wouldn't the two of you agree?" he questioned almost innocently although the amusement was clear in his eyes and proceeded to march his friends toward the inner office while winking at the poor girl.

He was quite pleasantly surprised and happy that his friends moved willingly but quickly chastised himself for his wishful thinking as both his friends threw his arms off just before they reached the door.

"You wait here" Young Do drawled at Tan while making eye contact with Joon Young who then turned and moved toward the secretary who it seemed, much to Joon Young's amusement, was trying to reduce her blush by fanning her cheeks with her hand and mumbling to herself.

"Min Ah-shi" he said, not unkindly, but he used her first name to remind her that she had yet to earn the title of 'Secretary Lee'. Said young woman froze as she looked from him to her and before lowering the appendage and bowing her head to hide what he suspected was a renewed blush.

"Let's use this" he continued indicating to Tan with an inclination of his head "to practice what we just discussed" before proceeding to enter the office with Young Do while Tan remained outside as the door slammed in his face.

As the two resettled themselves on the couches with the eldest who looked slightly disappointed that he had to stop playing Angry Birds, there came a polite knock on the door.

"Enter" said Young Do tiredly while rolling his eyes at Joon Young.

Joon Young smiled encouragingly at Min-Ah as she "informed" the trio of Tan's arrival and that he would like a meeting with them and positively beamed when she offered to call someone to clean up the tea-set that Young Do had ruined earlier. Of course his smile didn't go unnoticed but he was thankful that his friends remained silent.

The friends passed the time while the mess was being tidied with playful banter before Joon Young used Young Do's phone to tell Min Ah that she could have the afternoon, well evening, off. Now they could finally really **Talk.**

"What was that about" Tan and Myung Soo both asked indicating to the spot that been occupied by shattered china just moments earlier.

"I'm trying to be forced into an arranged marriage" Young Do deadpanned while offering his friends some whisky, though having none himself. Seeing that he was not going to elaborate Joon Young took the task upon himself and went on the explain that with Young Do's inauguration coming up, the board of directors had insinuated that investors were unsettled by the lack of constancy in life of the future president of Zeus Hotel group.

"and by constancy they mean?"

"Women" Young Do looked up at Tan as he answered his question

"or rather, a woman, it seems Young Do's habit of taking a different girl to every event is heavily frowned upon" Joon Young continued

"so to remedy that they set you up in an arranged marriage?" Myung Soo volunteered

"No, apparently the board merely suggested it" said Joon Young

"they want me to appear to be a wholesome family man like my_ father_" Young Do supplied, though the acid in his tone was tangible "no, it was my dear Step-mother and some art gallery-owner friend of hers who decided that this gallery-ahjumma's relative would be perfect for me."

The words "art gallery owner" set off alarm bells in Tan's head.

'_Maybe the owner is a man_' he thought to himself and then a split-second later he felt a pit form in his stomach as his mind registered the words "gallery-ahjumma".

"So do we know what this girl is like?" He asked, trying not to seem too interested.

Young Do shrugged "Not sure, I was too busy trying not to maim my father's woman." He said turning to Joon Young who rolled his eyes .

"apparently, she's pretty, rich, well-educated and should be here in a week." He listed offhandedly and with every word he said Tan's bad feeling grew.

'_She couldn't possibly have? Could she? Though that would explain UIjangnim's anger. And Won-hyung? No. it must be something el-'_

"Yah, Esther spoke for almost an hour and that's all you remember? What kind of executive assistant are you?" Young Do's indignant scoff brought him back to  
the real world.

"One who was more concerned that you would break something" Joon Young retorted "besides why should I care? Your marriage-issues are not in my job description."

"Heol, this friend" he said to the other two in disbelief while Joon Young looked satisfied with his victory.

"Unbelievable" Myung Soo said sounding utterly disappointed while Tan looked at him weirdly and Joon Young pretended to look utterly betrayed.

"I know" Tan didn't miss the twinkle of mischief that Young Do's agreement and tired nod brought to their 'hyung's' eye.

" No, not that, what I mean is the board should know better than to think that they need to find you a wife." The eldest continued

Tan could see where this was going while Young Do only nodded sagely and Joon Young looked slightly confused.

"after all, you already have Joon Young."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Young Do.

There was a beat of silence, before the room exploded

"Eh?" Joon Young sputtered

"that's not wha-" Young Do exclaimed wide-eyed.

Any further protest by the two was drowned out by the laughter of both both Tan and Myung Soo. Once his shock wore off even Joon Young began to chuckle while adding "we all know he can't live without me" in a possessive feminine tone which caused even Young Do to smirk.

"Babe this jealousy doesn't suit you" he drawled out to Myung Soo while pushing Joon Young further away causing them to collapse into laughter again.

It was an old joke which was born from the rumour that Young Do was gay due to his habit of appearing almost Joon Young was during their first two years of university. Both men were appalled while Young Do was particularly insulted. It had been a running joke amongst them for a while before they 'forgot ' about it.

"So does the lucky lady have a name?" Tan asked, bringing them back to the situation at hand and while he felt bad for being a buzz-kill, he was desperate to have his suspicion proved false.

"she should, I mean, I don't know what it is, but she should." Young Do replied offhandedly as he glanced at the clock, it was already past 9. "I for one am dying in suspense, Joon Young, did you happen to catch a name?" he continued, quite clearly not dying from the suspense of not knowing.

"No, one wasn't mentioned, apparently everything you need to know is in that file" he replied pointing to a file that had long been forgotten on the coffee table. "You really weren't listening" he stated as an afterthought.

"because I knew you _were_" Young Do responded as he moved to pick it up but another hand got there first.

Young Do looked up at Tan quizzically as the latter's hand pressed the file to the table. Before either could say anything, Young Do's phone rang. All of them watched as Young Do spoke to the person on the other end of the conversation though his eyes never left Tan's face.

"Hello"

"Yes"

"I understand"

Placing his smartphone on the table he answered his friends' unspoken questions. "My father wants a 'meeting' tomorrow morning to 'discuss' this marriage." While Joon Young and Myung Soo nodded, Tan looked lost in thought, which Young Do thought was odd, and odder still was that he was yet to release the file.

They all knew that by 'meeting' Young Do had meant Judo match as was the usual way for the two Choi men to decide on something they disagreed upon.

'_I could use this'_ Tan thought as his mind sprang into action.

"Do you really want to?" Tan asked, the phone call had given him an idea which, if it worked, would enable him to look at the woman in the file before Young Do did or even prevent Young Do from looking at the file all together.

"Do I really want to - what?" Young Do asked narrowing his eyes at his best friend.

"know, who the girl is, I mean. You clearly don't want this marriage, so what does it matter who she is. All you have to do is beat your dad tomorrow, just like you did so you could get this office and then she's out of your life." Tan spoke, willing Myung Soo and Joon Young to agree with him so they could help him convince his best friend.

"he has a point." Myung Soo conceded

'_Yes' _thought Tan. He looked at Joon Young expectantly.

"It's not that easy" Joon Young responded, "first we have to-"

"make a case" Young Do cut in.

"and to do that we need to- " Joon Young continued

"know the facts" Young Do added.

"So-"

"The file please, Tan-ah" Young Do completed.

While it wasn't their first time witnessing this, Tan and Myung Soo were still speechless and slightly weirded-out every time the other two completed each other's sentences. Although they figured it was probably the result of working together all these years.

Tan reluctantly removed his hand form the file thinking how foolish his plan was to begin with while Myung Soo leaned toward Joon Young and gestured to Young Do

"are you sure you two aren't you know?" he stage whispered to the youngest wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Tan laughed as the eldest was rewarded with two pillows in the face for his efforts, but his nervousness returned as Young Do picked up the file and opened it.

Joon Young who couldn't take the suspense, moved closer to Young Do to have a look but was stopped as the latter held up a hand signalling him to stay put. So instead they all watched anxiously as the emotions played across Young Do's face as he flipped through the file. First shock, then anger followed by something unreadable and lastly, most terrifying of all, was a smirk, one they had rarely seen since high school, the smirk of the devil.

It when Young Do met his eyes for a fraction of a second that Tan knew, without any doubt in the world

'_Eun Sang…'_

"So is she a complete troll?" Myung Soo asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Imagine the headlines 'Choi Young Do weds Bridezilla'?" Joon Young added with a facepalm.

"an advertising nightmare" commented Myung Soo 

Young Do didn't respond immediately, instead taking the file with him as he moved to tidy his desk before taking his blazer and coat off the coat-stand situated behind it. He tossed the file on the table before walking to the door.

"See for yourselves" he said. "and then see yourselves out when you're done" he added.

"Where're you going?" asked Joon Young as the other two couldn't seem to fathom what was happening.

"To bed. after all I_ do _have a fight to lose tomorrow." Young Do replied as he walked out the door.

* * *

The remaining three sat in shock .

"Did he just say 'lose'?" Tan broke the silence first. Joon Young nodded as Myung Soo pulled the file toward him and opened it. He was about to speak but the words got caught in his throat as he saw the picture, _her_ picture.

"Tan" he spoke finally having found her voice. "Did you know?"

"before I got here? no, but as you spoke" he said looking at a puzzled Joon Young "and when I added what you were saying to what my aunt had said earlier, things became clearer but I still wasn't sure until I saw that." He gestured to the seat that Young Do had vacated.

Myung Soo nodded in understanding as Joon Young pulled the open file toward him.

"Cha Eun Sang" he gasped. "but he hates her… absolutely hates her." It was a statement.

"he didn't always though" Tan added.

"You mean?"

"no, not like that" Myung Soo interjected. "Just that he didn't always loathe her"

"Oh" responded Joon Young. "So why does he now? And why does want to lose tomorrow?"

"I don't know" Myung Soo answered. "but one thing is for sure"

"This is bad." Said Tan.

* * *

As the conversation seemed to die off, Young Do put down the receiver of his secretary's telephone. Before he left his office he had put his own telephone on speaker mode which had allowed him to successfully eavesdrop on his friends' conversation. So now he was certain of one thing.

Tan had no idea about this marriage beforehand

Guessing that his friends would leave soon, he moved to the elevator as silently as possible, his suite was only two floors up. As the elevator doors closed, he felt his grin falter, but thought nothing of it.

'_Tomorrow is a big day' _he thought.

* * *

Shortly after they had lapsed into silence all three men got up to leave turning off the lights and shutting the doors. The three of them walked to the elevator in silence. As the elevator doors closed Tan, who looked like he was having deep inner conflict spoke,

"She's here" he said breaking the silence. "Eun Sang, she arrived today, it's a secret, no one knows" he said.

"Does she know?" asked Myung Soo

"I doubt it" answered Tan

"Let's keep it that way, all of it stays secret for now" Joon Young spoke looking at Tan pointedly as if daring him to break the bro-code. As the elevator doors opened the other two nodded.

"You know, sometimes I think that I liked you better when you hated him." Tan muttered half-heartedly to Joon Young.

Myung Soo scoffed as Joon Young threw an arm around each of them as they walked through the hotel lobby toward the door.

"Ah, But you forget Tan-ah" he said cheekily " back then, I hated both of you too" he added as he playfully pushed them out of the main door and into the cold.

The two chuckled as the wave to their friend who waved walked back to the elevator to head to the underground parking to retrieve his car before saying their goodbyes and heading home.

* * *

Choi Young Do had just gotten out of the shower on Sunday morning when his phone alerted him of a new update on the most popular gossip site. It had become a habit to monitor such sites ever since his "Gay" scandal. He glanced at the headline and was relieved it had nothing to do with him but honestly he hadn't done anything _yet_. As he towelled his hair he thought about the headline and then decided to read the article, normally, he wouldn't care, but this time it was actually related to him or would be soon and also the headline was slightly – no – highly ridiculous.

_****_

Kim Chan Young having an affair?

_**Kim Chan Young, youngest son of Jeguk Group and husband to Lee Bo Na, daughter the owner of Mega Entertainment was pictured holding hands and getting into a car with an unidentified woman late yesterday afternoon. Is there trouble brewing in Jeguk Heaven? Read more **_here_**. Pictures below.**_

Young Do scrolled down to the pictures knowing full well that this was bogus. Thanks to Tan he knew Chan Young quite well and was absolutely certain that the man would never ever cheat on his little aegyo-monster of a wife, because as he had once noted to said man's sister years ago, no one could be so clingy and yet so adorable at the same time. As the pictures loaded however, he was surprised to find that there were indeed pictures of Chan Young and another woman. In the first he was putting a pair of glasses on her face with an almost endearing? smile. Odd.

The second picture however, confirmed his conviction that Chan Young was innocent, it showed an arm which he assumed was Chan Young's pulling the female into a Jeguk Bentley. This time though the woman was facing the camera and while he mentally cursed the manufacture of the phone that had been used to take these fuzzy pictures he could still make out the features of the woman despite the gigantic glasses she wore. It was a face that was burned in his memory and as he focused on the fuzzy image he didn't realise that his lips and shaped themselves into a smirk.

Pocketing his phone and bike keys he moved to the door, picking up his helmet on the way out all the while still smirking.

'_Cha Eun Sang, welcome home' _he thought.

He laughed humourlessly to himself as he waited for the valet to bring his bike to him and as he mounted he said to no one in particular

"Let the games begin." and sped off to the gym where he was scheduled to meet his father.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the lack of Min-young (aka Baby sister-Kim) in this chapter.


End file.
